Alright gang, here's the situation. I'm really wanting to get onto XBox Live 'cause not only are the cool kids doing it, but I'm getting openly mocked by the rest of the CG Staff. The only way to knock that off is to bitch-slap the lot of them in a Halo 2 deathmatch. So, here's the situation in Casa de Whiteboy:

The wife and I have a two story loft condo that we own. Downstairs in the living room against the far wall is where the TV and my XBox rest. Directly up the stairs and overlooking the living room is where the office is. The office is also where our cable modem sits. We have a Linksys router that's been stellar (I think the dropping I experienced a few weeks ago was partly my fault) but running cable would prove to be an issue. So, I'm thinking wireless and here are my questions:

1) Is there an option to by a wireless kit for XBox Live? If so, what specific equipment comes with it?

2) Is the price point really only $50 a year for the service?

3) Is wireless actually fast enough for the service, or would waiting for the next home and just running a cable from the XBox to the router work better?

4) If wireless is truly the way to go, what type router would you recommend? As I would also need wireless NICs for both my PC and my wife's, do you have any specific recommendations for those?

5) If wireless if the way to go, is there a special connector for the XBox that I would plug into the ethernet port?

All thoughts and concerns and questions are well appreciated, and if you guys need more information from me then just let me know. Thanks!

Alright gang, here's the situation. I'm really wanting to get onto XBox Live 'cause not only are the cool kids doing it, but I'm getting openly mocked by the rest of the CG Staff. The only way to knock that off is to bitch-slap the lot of them in a Halo 2 deathmatch. So, here's the situation in Casa de Whiteboy:

Honestly, your best situation is just to get a bunch of wire and drag it up and down every time you want to play Xbox Live. It solves any extra expense/issues/whatever with getting wireless.

It's also a lot cheaper. You're looking at least $50 just getting a wireless connection hooked up (with the risk of issues) verses $10-$15 tops for a long length of cable.

Xbox Live is $50 a year. You give Microsoft your card and they'll auto-renew you each year as well.

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I agree on running a wire. I wouldn't recommend wireless due to the extra costs, plus I'm not sure it's going to be as stable.

Also, rather than spending $50 on a sub direct from Live, why not get the full 3.0 Live kit, which includes a communicator headset ($30 value) and a full version of Crimson Skies ($30 value) and a full year of Live for $58 from Newegg?! basically you are getting the extras free.

Trust me, you'll want the headset. Everyone else will be talking to each other, and you'll be missing out.

The cable will be cheaper. But I run a wireless setup in my condo and have no connectivity problems. I have the linksys 'g' router and game access point for downstairs. You wouldn't need wireless NICs for your PCs because they are still 4 ports on it. However the router and access point both set me back around $80 each. So look to drop around $150+ on a wireless setup. For me it's great because my office (hardwired computer, router and dsl modem) is upstairs, my X-Box is downstairs in the living room and I can use my laptop anywhere in the house as well.

1) Is there an option to by a wireless kit for XBox Live? If so, what specific equipment comes with it?

2) Is the price point really only $50 a year for the service?

3) Is wireless actually fast enough for the service, or would waiting for the next home and just running a cable from the XBox to the router work better?

4) If wireless is truly the way to go, what type router would you recommend? As I would also need wireless NICs for both my PC and my wife's, do you have any specific recommendations for those?

5) If wireless if the way to go, is there a special connector for the XBox that I would plug into the ethernet port?

Heya buddy. Me and my overbearing opinion are here to ruin your day.

1) There is no MS bundle for live and wireless. 2) The Live service itself is $50. Get the live kit with crimson skies. If you've tried and hated the live headset (wraparound), then get the Halo2 one. It's a-frickin-mazing, with better noise cancellation.3) Hell ya Wireless is fast enough. Let's look at the numbers.. - 802.11b = 11Megabits/sec = ~1.3MegaBytes/s= 1.375MB/s = 1408KB/s = 1 Full CD (700MB) transmits in less than 9 minutes at optimal speed. - 802.11g = 54Megabits/sec = ~6.7MegaBytes/s= 6.75 MB/s = 6912KB/s = 1 Full CD (700MB) transmits in less than 2 minutes at optimal speed.

Does your NET connection go that fast? I wouldn't worry about the wireless unless you have interference problems (microwaves, cell phones and cordless phones). These can degrade signal while in use, but to make enough of a difference to game packets it's got to be *really* bad. You're not doing major file transfer here, and the service runs well on 200KB/s.

4) a 802.11g router. Find a cheap one; the MS one isn't bad at all. I don't have specific recommendations on this.

5) Yes there is a wireless Xbox connector. Nyko makes a Wireless Net Extender, but the reviews have it out to be crap. Check out PC Mag's review and right now the going rate of the MS Xbox connectors on ebay is around 75US. Name searchMN-740 part search.

As to just running a cable, make sure it's UTP CAT5 patch cable ... it should feel flexible, as opposed to the permanent type. That stuff is cheap (by the foot) and getting RJ45 connectors is cheap too. The tool to crimp it is less than 20 bux, but there is the inconvenience of it all. You could wall-fish the line and install pretty wall-jacks with very little problems... I'd help ya, but you're a little far away.

As to the other PCs, you don't need to get Jack for em; they can use the existing cabling to get to the router (wireless routers also tend to have 3 or 4 10/100 RJ45 jacks too)

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